Breaking: Dead eel tossing contest canceled

Giant dead eel tossing contest canceled By KATIE FRETLAND, Associated Press Writer
Sun Jul 30, 12:08 AM ET

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The practice, known as conger cuddling, is the annual highlight in the small coastal town about 155 miles southwest of London. The object of the game is to knock the opposing team off the platform by swinging a 25-pound eel at them.

Crowds have flocked to Lyme Regis since 1974 to watch rival teams of nine men swing the giant conger eel — suspended in the harbor by a rope — and local residents said they are dismayed at the demise of their historic event.

Andrew Kaye, a resident and spokesman for the Lyme Regis lifeboat crews who raise money through the tournament, said an anonymous e-mailer had called the practice disrespectful to the dead eel.

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About 300 people attended an alternative event on Friday night. But the boat dock fender that participants used paled in comparison to being struck by a dead eel, Bailey said.

more at:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060730/ap_on_fe_st/britain_eel_game;_ylt=AkZh26OoH3_GdWlBx6VEho2s0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3NW1oMDRpBHNlYwM3NTc-

edit to include:

by the lack of respect shown to dead eels.

In time eels tossed always wound.

Or time wounds all eels? :shrug:

A timely replacement sport?

One person called and said they were going to film it and that ended it. I think the organizers may not have had their hearts in it to begin with. Note how proceeds for this kind of nonsense always seem to go to some charity.

according to the link; team members said they preferred being hit by the dead eel.

Proceeds benefit the National Royal Lifeboat Assn.